US troops sandbag flood towns

National Guard troops worked with residents to stem the damage from the widespread flooding in Iowa that killed at least three people, forced tens of thousands to evacuate and severely damaged the state's corn crop.

National Guard troops worked with residents to stem the damage from the widespread flooding in Iowa that killed at least three people and forced tens of thousands to evacuate.

The drenching has also severely damaged the corn crop in America's number one corn state, and other parts of the Midwest at a time when corn prices are soaring and food shortages have led to violence in some poor countries.

Iowa has lost two million acres of soya beans and 1.3 million acres of corn. Some 16% of the state's 25 million acres of tillable farmland is under water.

In addition to the three killed in the flooding and storms that caused it, 12 others died in recent tornadoes.

The swollen Iowa River, which bisects Iowa City, was topping out at about 31.5ft - a foot and a half below earlier predictions. However, it still posed a lingering threat, and was not expected to begin receding until tonight.

A week's work of frantic sandbagging by students, professors and the National Guard could not spare the college town from the surging Iowa River, which has swamped more than a dozen campus buildings and forced the evacuation Sunday of hundreds of nearby homes.

The university said 16 buildings had been flooded, including one designed by acclaimed architect Frank Gehry, and said others were at risk.

Iowa City mayor Regenia Bailey said 500 to 600 homes in the city of about 60,000 were ordered to evacuate and hundreds of others were under a voluntary evacuation order through the morning.

Governor Chet Culver said it was "a little bit of good news" that the river had crested, but warned that the situation was still precarious.

Elsewhere, state officials prepared for serious flooding threats in Burlington and south-east Iowa including Fort Madison and Keokuk.

Officials said 500 National Guard troops had already been sent to Burlington, a Mississippi River town of about 27,000, and some people were being evacuated.

In Cedar Rapids - where flooding had forced the evacuation of about 24,000 people from their homes - residents waited hours to get their first up-close look since flooding hammered most of the city earlier this week.

Some grew angry after long waits to pass through checkpoints. Cedar Rapids officials also were inspecting homes for possible electrical and structural hazards.

Elsewhere in the Midwest, hundreds of members of the Illinois National Guard headed to communities along the swollen Mississippi River yesterday for sandbagging duty while emergency management officials eyed rain-swollen rivers across the state.

Two levees broke on Saturday near the Mississippi River town of Keithsburg, Illinois, flooding the town of 700 residents about 35 miles south west of Moline.

The National Weather Service said the Mississippi would crest on Tuesday morning near Keithsburg at 25.1ft. Flood stage in the area is 14ft.

Rising water threatening approaches also prompted Illinois officials to close a Mississippi River bridge at Quincy.